Method and apparatus for treating flax



April 8, 1924.

B. S. SUMMERS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING FLAX Filed-April 23. 1920 Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATE NT, OFFICE- BERTBAND S. SUIHEBS, PORT HURON, MICHIGAN.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR T BEATING Fm.

Application fled April 23,1920. Serial in. 375,913.

. To all whom it may concern:

My invention relates to an improved Be 'it known that I, BERTRAND S. SUMMERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at 2557 Military Street, Port Huron, county of. St. Clair, and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Treating Flax, of which the following is a specifi-" catio method and apparatus for the treatment of flax straw to produce therefrom fiber suitable for commercial use in. the manufacture of yarns and linens, and has for its object to provide a method and apparatus for carrying out the method by means of which such treatment may be conducted continuously and expeditiously and resulting in the production of a fiber having high inning quality and superior strength. 1th this object in view,,my invention is fully described in the accompanying specification and more claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the apparatus, Figure, 2 is an elevation.

In the treatment of the flax straw as commonly carried out, it is retted after being cured in the field, or immediately.

after it is gathered while in the green state. The retting process, generally speaking, softens the straw and renders the fiber more easily separable from the woody tissue and at the same time gives the required spinning qualities to the fiber. After retting, the

retted straw is spread out in the field fordrying and to complete the procew. The straw as thus treated in the field is dried only to a partial extent,and is left in, what I term, a natured state, that is to say, the valuable fibertogether with the woody matter of the straw are both in a tough, pliable condition. This condition of the fiberis essential for successfulscutching and for the subsequent spinning operation. The woody matter is, however, diflicult to separate from the fiber by the soutching, so that the proper separation of the fiber from the Woody material of the straw has always been a' problem of some difiiculty. This is illustratedin scutching mills working with naturally retted straw natured as above described. In these mills it is necessary to stop the operation when the atmosphere is surcharged with moisture owin to the increased toughness of the w y matters in particularly pointed out in the the straw due to the presence of such moisture. This is because 'the straw natured as above described is so moist that the addi tion of 'asmall amount of moisture is sufficient to" render the material incapable of commercial ope-ration. Field drying is, of

course, subject to interruption by rain, dews,

or other local disturbances, and can only be practiced at certain favorable seasons of the year in flax producing countries. After being thus prepared, the flax straw is bundled and shipped to the scutching mills,

where it is subjected to the scutching oper ation to separate the fiber from the straw.

. The fiber so separated by the scutching operation is then ready for spinning. In the treatment of flax straw. so carried out the favorable outcome is dependent to a large extent Iupon weather conditions, and is sub: ject to interruption thereby and to a nonuniformity of product, resulting in consider- I able hazard to the product. It is also neces sary that a sufiicient supply of flax straw be treated during the favorable season to care for the demand until the next retting season occurs. The lomes due to this method of treating flax straw amount to very large sumsof money.

I have discovered that it is possible to so treatrflax straw as to make the production of fiber independent of weather can ditions so that flax maybe retted and treated continuously throughout the year as the de mand therefor requires and to produce in this way a more uniform quality of fiber having superior sp-inningqualities and of a high strength. i

In carrying out my invention, I use field curedstraw, which, ofcourse, has not been retted or natured, and I provide a retting vat, or vats, adapted for the continuous retting of flax straw. For present purposes,

these vats may generally be described as" deleterious to spinning qualities. It is necessary that this substance be removed, and, as the fiber at this point is in a tion, it must be removed gently so as not to tear and disintegrate the ribbon of fiber. For this purpose I bring a stream of warm water to the feed roll, which flows upon the surface of the feed rolls, and is, in turn, conveyed by the feed rolls in such a manner that it flows gently upon the fiber just in advance of the entry of the fiber between the squeeze rolls. This water thus applied to the fiber softens and dissolves the gummy matter so that it is readily squeezed out, from the fiber by the squeeze rolls. In commercial operation large quantities of flax fiber are thus conveyed from the retting vat to the squeeze rolls. The proportion of fiber to the gummy matter and woody matter is about one to five, so that a very large proportion of these waste matters must be removed, amounting I should say to approximately five to ten per cent of the total weight of the straw. By my method of washinglas above described, I am able to remove t ese deleterious matters with the least amount of water and with the least expenditure of time and labor, at the same time doing this without disturbing the ribbons of fiber and yet more thoroughly cleansing them than is otherwise possib e, and without interruption to the continuity of the process. The gummy and sticky matters are present in the straw retted in vats to a greater degree than when the straw is subjected to the natural rettin and subsequent field drying, as above descri%ed, so that the washing out of these matters is an important step. From the squeeze rolls the cleaned straw is deposited u on conveyors which carry it to a dryer in w liich the straw is completely dried. After drying, the straw is carried by suitable conveyors to a naturing room where it is allowed to remain under proper conditions of temperature and moisture to effectuate the naturing of the straw.

It will be here noted that in carrying out my present rocess, I first completely dry the straw be ore subjectin it to this naturing, whereas in all the prior prooesses'with which I am acquainted the straw is in an incomplete state of dryness when taken from the field and is, therefore, natured, whereas in my process the flax straw is practically completely dried and is subsequently natured. In the straw retted by the natural process, containing as it does considerable amounts of moisture, while the fiber is tough and strong the wood is also more or less affected by the moisture contained, which makes it more or less pliable and, therefore, difficult to remove from the fiber with which it is associated, in the scutching operation, while by my process both the wood and the fiber are first practically completely dried delicate condiso that the straw is brittle. 7 By the subsequent naturing the fiber becomes soft and pliable before the woody matters assume such a'condition, so thatthe straw treated by my process is carried to the scutching machines with the fiber in the soft and pliable condition and the wood in a brittle state so that the former is more easily sepa-. rated from the wood and in better condition than is possible in any other way known to me. 7

Having thus generally described my process, I' have shown in the drawings an apparatus suitable for carrying out this process, although it will be understood that my process is not. dependent upon the particular apparatus shown. -The apparatus shown comprises the retting vats A provided with a suitable conveyor B which carries the retted straw'to a chute C 85.. whence it falls upon a platform D, from" l which platform it passes to the feed rolls J which carry it to the squeeze rolls I. G s a pipe conducting warm waterfrom a suitable source of supply E shown 1n the present instance as a reservoir heated by. coil F The ipe G is provided, at

a point adjacent t e squeeze rolls, with a spray nozzle H, which sprays-the warm' water against the surface of one of the squeeze rolls 1,

from which the water fiows gently. ,upon the retted flax just in advance of the entry; of the flax between'the squeeze rolls. These squeeze rolls remove from the flax the gummy, sticky matters as well as the excess of water. squeeze rolls the straw passes to oscillating apron K upon which the straw is agitated and spread out while passing there from to the dryer conveyor N. The dryer apron carries the straw through a suitable dryer or dryers, O, in which the moisture is substantially completely removed from the straw at a temperature preferably of from degrees to degrees F. I have shown in the drawing two dryers by means of which the drying temperatures may-be varied in order to dry first with a higher temperature and later with'a lower temperature, or vice versa, if desired. In some instances, however, a single dryer maybe sufficient. conveyed naturing room Q. In this room the straw From the dryers the straw is is allowed toremain under suitable condi tions of temperature and moisture to bring the straw into suitable condition fol-the scutching operation.

From the I by a suitable conveyor P to the a This condition, as a above described, is that the fiber portion of Ill ration. It will, of course, be understood that the naturing takes place more rapidly with a suflicient amount of moisture in the air than in a dry atmosphere. The ideal conditions are 70 degrees temperature and to saturation. It Wlll beunderstood, of course, that the apparatus for carrying out my process is arranged in a suitable building. By treating flax straw in the manner described in this specification I am able to work upon field cured straw throughout the entireyear, the various operations being conducted continuously and without interruption. B my method of vat retting, I secure a uni orm product, and by my method of washing I remove the gummy and sticky matters from the retted straw without injury to the fiber and by the step of complete] drying the retted and cleaned straw an subsequently naturing it under uniform conditions, I am able to separate the fiber from the woody matters more efiiciently thanhas hitherto been possi- 1. The process of treating flax straw .which com rises the steps of retting straw,-

substantial y completely drying the retted straw, and then subjecting the dried straw to a naturing process.

The process of treating flax straw which comprises the steps of retting the straw, washing out the gummy matter therefrom, substantially completely drying the washed straw, and then subjecting the dried straw to a naturing process.

3. The process of treating flax straw which comprises the steps of retting .the

straw, removing the gummy matters therefrom, and substantia ly completely dr in the straw, and then subjecting the rie straw to a naturing process.

4. The process of treating flax straw which comprises the steps of substantially completely drying the straw, and then subjectmg the dried straw to a naturing proc- B88.

5. The process of treating flax straw which comprises the steps of retting the straw, eliminating substantially all the moisture therefrom, and then gradually re-introducing moisture to a degree sufiicient to render the fiber portion of the straw pliable, while leaving the woody portion brittle.

The process of treating flax straw which comprises the steps of vat retting the straw, artificially drying the retted straw and then artificially naturing the drie straw.

7. The process of -treating flax straw which comprises the steps of subjecting the retted dried straw to the naturing action of an atmosphere carrying suflicient moisture whereby the fiber of the straw is softened without softening the woody content of the straw.

8. Apparatus for treating flax straw comprising a retting vat, s means for conveying t e straw from the retting vat to the squeeze rolls, and further means for conveying the straw from the ueeze rolls through the dryer.

- 9. apparatus for treating flax straw comprising a retting vat, a dryer, 9. naturing room, means for conveying the strawfrom the rettihg vat through the dryer, and means for conveying the straw from the dryer to the naturing room.

10. Apparatus for treating flax straw comprising a dryer and a naturing room, means for conveying the straw through the dryer, and further means for conveying the straw from the dryer to the naturing room.

April 13th, 1920.

BERTRAND S. SUMMERS.

ueeze rolls, a dryer, 

